High summer is a magical time of year. All those endless days of golden light, with everything everywhere racing toward full bloom – nature’s alchemy on full display. I try to remember to be gobstruck on a daily basis by it all, to marvel at a wild grape vine’s ability to grow a foot a day, even as I curse it for strangling my hydrangeas. Enchantment is not my usual first response to an invasive climber, but natural magic is on my mind right now because I’m re-reading “The Black Bird Oracle,” historian Deborah Harkness’ latest novel about everyone’s favorite witch, time-walker and Ivy League professor, Diana Bishop.
We first met Diana in “A Discovery of Witches” at Oxford University, where she spent a lot of time with a mysterious alchemical manuscript at the Bodleian. We catch up with her this time on an extended summer vacation in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where she discovers some long-lost relatives and explores her own affinity for higher magic. This is a new type of magic for Diana. It’s greener and wilder, rooted in the woods, fields and salt marshes of coastal New England. And it’s woven into her family’s daily life. When her great-aunt opens a window to let in a breeze, she sprinkles salt on the windowsills. She tucks rosemary into the frames of family portraits, collects bird feathers in vases and tends a witches’ garden filled with powerful – and dangerous – plants. There are enchanted treehouses in the woods, ghosts in the attic and en-spirited family clambakes at the shore.
Reading about magical daily life in a family that traces its history back to the Salem witch trials, I find myself wondering if there are ways I might add some ordinary, everyday magic to my own life – small gestures of respect for the living green energy that surrounds us. Maybe instead of ripping out that strangling vine, I’ll weave it into a wreath for the front door. And who knows – if I stumble on one of those spells that makes brooms sweep and dishes wash themselves, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my interview with Deborah Harkness in our show this week – a rebroadcast of our "Everyday Magic" episode.
Blessed be,
– Anne